Visual Novel Cafe

[kzel]

Oh~ knew her route would have better pro's in some aspect.

I'm not sure saying her route is better is the proper term. Houkago Cinderella is a charage in its purest form and thus appreciation balances heavily on the characters themselves. As we've written in the few previous posts the route structure is fairly similar for all characters, the stories remain very light and shallow, and the game itself is quite short so there's not much room to develop anyway.

If a charage is what you're looking for though, you can expect to find a lot of interactions with the characters of your preference, without much (if at all) surprise in terms of backstory or personality, usually while the rest of the world and characters fade away to let the couple chosen take the spotlight and keep it from beginning to end. It's a very straightforward game, but the lack of spice or overdose of sugar does make it one of the most forgettable games of the studio (kinda like E-School Life).

 

[pingtoryan]

I'm not sure saying her route is better is the proper term. Houkago Cinderella is a charage in its purest form and thus appreciation balances heavily on the characters themselves. As we've written in the few previous posts the route structure is fairly similar for all characters, the stories remain very light and shallow, and the game itself is quite short so there's not much room to develop anyway.

If a charage is what you're looking for though, you can expect to find a lot of interactions with the characters of your preference, without much (if at all) surprise in terms of backstory or personality, usually while the rest of the world and characters fade away to let the couple chosen take the spotlight and keep it from beginning to end. It's a very straightforward game, but the lack of spice or overdose of sugar does make it one of the most forgettable games of the studio (kinda like E-School Life).

When I said "better" it's probably more like "I don't have much if anything to complain about this girl" when you put it that way. Like I previously said I got beef with two out of five girls and neutral on one, so that leaves two "better".

It's even more forgettable than E-School Life if you ask me. You can't go after subheroines and the world feels even emptier once route starts. "Charage in its purest form"...maybe you've got a point there....

 

[kzel]

I was fully in agreement with your own comment that said Tsukushi is one of the better *characters*, if anything because her personality works wonders to bring out the best in the protagonist as he tries to calm down her panic outbursts. Kinda reminds me of Tomiko from Kanojo*Step in a (much, much) more tame way. In the other routes (all but Maria that I haven't played yet), the protagonist is more prone to teasing and joking around but with Tsukushi it's a dangerous path as he learns quite early.

When I said "charage in its purest form", I meant that the one and only appeal of the game is in the characters themselves. There's really nothing much to cling onto in a route if the character isn't appealing from the very beginning, and since their traits are pretty much set in stone there's not much hope of evolution or significant growth either.

I would have liked to see subheroines short routes, but only if they're short routes and not just stand-alone sex scenes like the sub characters in Lovely Quest (Hatsune excepted). That was disappointing.

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I am now done with かけぬけ★青春スパーキング！, after fully clearing it. At first I was hesitant to go for some of the heroines (Hibiki, Shiori) but it's one of those games that keeps the best route (Kikka) locked until you've played all the rest and I was worried I would miss out on some crucial elements. Turns out I kinda enjoyed Shiori's route (at least the first part) and liked Hibiki a lot more that I thought I would, so I'm happy I didn't skip or download a save. I'm not sure there was such a crucial need to lock out Kikka's route until all the others are completed, at best it spoils some minor things in Hikibi's route but since Kikka's route is so different and more impactful that the rest I can understand wanting to save it for last and give the game a better final stretch. Still, in this day and age it's quite risky to lock your best route until after the game is fully cleared, especially as there was little indication as to how involved it would be given that Kikka is treated as a sub-character during the rest of the game.

Anyway, as I've written before in my short impressions the game starts out with a stand-alone prologue that serves to introduce characters and set up the the circumstances leading to the creation of the "seishun" club. This part is mostly lead by Hibiki who pretty much imposes herself on the protagonist despite a lot of complaints and reticence. The protagonist's circumstances are rather peculiar and he clearly doesn't have either the time or energy to deal with Hibiki's overbearing personality and need for attention, but he still somehow puts up with it and even starts to enjoy it. His circumstances do evolve somewhat along the course of said prologue, after some minor confrontations with a more than obvious antagonist, and the end of it frees him up to pursue over avenues and dedicate a bit of time to get further involved with one of the 6 heroines of the game (at first 4, one sub unlocked after one route cleared, the last sub after all other 5 are cleared).

From there on it's a straight up scenario selection right as you click "Start", no choice or flowchart to navigate through, it's pretty straightforward. Most routes follow a similar pattern that first involves the protagonist getting to know and spend more time with a heroine, triggering some budding feelings in both parts of the couple through various events (some through forceful lucky sukebe but thankfully not all). All this leads to an eventual confession and a rather quick coming-out in front of the other members of the club, followed by some happy moments dating and enjoying time together. The second halves of the routes usually have the heroine deal with some kind of problem that the protagonist tries his best to solve, although the problem (Nagiko) or the solution (Shiori) wasn't always to my liking and led me to lose my grip on the game more than a few times. Here are some quick somewhat spoilery summaries of each heroine's route with some impressions, in order played :

Spoiler: Riri

Riri starts the game very interested in the protagonist, calling him his magic-trick teacher and trying to invite him to her volunteering club, something that he refuses as he's generally very busy. In her route, the protagonist starts to help her out more and participates in her volunteering activities helping out various services around town (elderly, child care, festival preparations). While generally very polite and somewhat reserved (at least compared to her immediate rival Hibiki), she's the one to take the initiative and confesses to the protagonist. Her route's second half involves her juggling between diverting her time and attention to her relationship and starting to neglect fulfilling her "duties", the very volunteering work she's involved in, that she thinks she does more out of a feeling of guilt for having been born in a privileged environment than out of actual kindness. The protagonist helps her sort out her feelings and find a balance between her own and helping other's happiness. I liked this route a lot, it was very cute.

Spoiler: Ritsu

Ritsu is the protagonist's non-blood related little sister, she takes care of the house chores like cleaning and cooking, and is generally very admiring of her big brother, but also regrets all the sacrifices he has to make for them to continue their livelihood : he needs to keep top grades in school to get his scholarship, and also works long shifts part time to pay for the house's bills. During the game she's very clearly a complete bro-con, and in her route the protagonist finally returns some of that affection, not before a lot of the usual siblings romance typical hesitation and some pushing by characters close to them. Her later part deals with the protagonist's past, and more precisely what events led them to live together alone without parents, ending with a confrontation with the protagonist's mother that leads the protagonist to finally find some peace.

Spoiler: Nagiko

Nagiko is the senpai of the group, cousin of Hibiki and also childhood friend of the protagonist, although she was much less involved with him than Hibiki at a younger age. She's also a third dan in Aikido and is on a straight path to inherit her family's dojo, which means she doesn't have to spend all her time in books studying for entrance exams. The route starts as the protagonist find out that she's been practicing surfing in secret, and helps her out hiding the hobby from the other members of the group and her family. While she's very strong and athletic, Nagiko is also very pure, has little experience in romance and is easily flustered, and so when the protagonist starts having feelings for her it doesn't take long for her to fall. The second part of her route involves her being scouted out by her favorite surfing magazine for some photo shoots, that unfortunately coincides with a blank that makes her mess her all her tricks. The reasoning behind this blank is rather vague, the game tries its best to convince us it's stress but it also happens to coincide with the time-period right after the first ecchi... Anyway, the protagonist helps her regain her confidence (somehow he has as much stamina as a professional athlete despite not doing any kind of physical activity...), she does admirably in the photo shoot but refuses the magazine's offer to sponsor her scholarship, saying that she wants to climb to the top on her own... and she does! This is all fine and well, except she was also supposed to have a dojo to run which is largely forgotten in the latter parts of the route. She doesn't train much anymore, we never seen her teach there, and it's not even mentioned in the ending. Having a career as a professional surfer would involve leaving the dojo empty for long periods of time, something that is never addressed. It would have been nice if the protagonist worked hard to ease her burden with the dojo while she focused on her passion, but alas that wasn't to be.

Spoiler: Shiori

Shiori is a very reserved, usually quiet girl that the protagonist approaches as she was eating lunch alone and introduced to his little sister as they are of the same age. Her route sees the protagonist discover her secret identity as a virtual youtuber, in which she acts with a pretty much opposite personality. She's pretty cautious of the protagonist's early approaches and remains secretive even after he found her out, which was nice as the protagonist had to work hard to earn her trust and then her love. The second part of her route is where it kinda fell apart for me, as the protagonist sets out on a goal to "reform" her and "fix" her personality problems. This all surges from a blank she has in her youtube endeavors, unsure of how she can continue to grow after her channel hit a peak in subscribers numbers. She ultimately decided to try and be more open, with members of the club at first, all the way to complete strangers, and eventually even managed to surmount a childhood trauma. All the while this is going on she sets a extended break on her channel, even though her channel is not nearly big enough to support a long break without serious risks, but it all turns out well as her fans were all worried and waiting for her return. This is fine, but I don't really like routes that make an effort to fix and make characters fit into a standardized society mold. Characters undergoing this usually lose a lot of their personality and uniqueness in the process and Shiori was no exception. I have no doubt she's happier this way, but it's just not the same.

Spoiler: Hibiki

Hibiki is a character I really couldn't stand in the prologue due to how forceful she was with the protagonist, for the most part ignoring his opinion and circumstances to enroll him in a variety of activities that really don't improve his immediate situation. She's also the protagonist's childhood friend, which made me even more reticent to start her route as these tend to generally be pretty bad. Surprisingly, her route turned out to be one of my favorite in the game, second to Riri for the main characters at least. The first half eschews typical patterns and has both the protagonist and Hibiki realize their feelings for each other early, but also has them be too stubborn to admit it and thus engaged in some kind of game in which each of them tries to make the other "lose" and confess. I was happy to be spared the usual period of donkanness usually associated with childhood friend routes, and the various approaches by both sides were actually pretty funny at times. This was interspersed with flashbacks in which we learn of their childhood, about how the protagonist was rather weak leading to Hibiki taking him under her wing, and about a very serious accident the protagonist was involved in that could have cost him his live. In the end, they finally hook up together after a bit of encouragement. The second part of the route is focused on a last-minute school festival preparation rush (Hibiki's idea), that sees the characters get very busy and leads Hibiki to have some doubts about her relationship with the protagonist, something she keeps bottled up until she explodes in public, forcing the protagonist to respond in kind. I liked it, the whole route I was somewhat annoyed by the lack of protagonist response to Hibiki's approaches and it was nice to see this was actually intended and resolved in the end.

Spoiler: Kikka

Kikka is the mysterious kouhai that only appears at certain times and remains very mysterious throughout the whole game. She loves to tease the protagonist, and in her route, as retaliation for setting her up as the seishun club's president against her will, she begins to stalk him everywhere he goes until he takes up the position himself or becomes her slave. While the protagonist starts very annoyed by her presence, he quickly warms up to her. In fact, much more than she anticipated as he develops feelings for her, starts responding to her teasing with his own approaches in kind, and finally makes his move on her, to her surprise and despite her being quite reluctant to actually get into a relationship. The couple enjoys some happy moments together, until one day Kikka's condition suddenly worsens and she ultimately disappears. As the remaining club members look for her, much is revealed about who she is and what her past is, and the fact that she's not just a normal girl. Without spoiling too much, she's much more important to the protagonist than her status as a sub-heroine would let on, and her condition is also particularly complicated and involves some paranormal elements. I found said paranormal elements to be relatively well introduced, they're not overbearing and work very well to create some of the game's most emotional scenes, some of them actually getting a tear or two from my old cynic eyes. I like protagonist dedication in my stories and this one was very nice, seeing him swallow his pride and do his best for the girl he loves without ever demanding anything in return, very touching.

Overall I think it was a pretty good game, I enjoyed most of my time with it, the worst part was most certainly the prologue but the heroines routes largely make up for it. For those interested, I'd say give Hibiki a chance even if you don't like her, I know I didn't at first and yet ended up liking her route. Her route also serves to set up the stage for the best route of the game : Kikka, don't be fooled by her sub-heroine status. Going through the other 3 main heroines isn't that necessary, so pick the characters you like and maybe download a save to unlock the final stretch of the game.

 

[|♚|KK|♚|]

I'm not sure saying her route is better is the proper term. Houkago Cinderella is a charage in its purest form and thus appreciation balances heavily on the characters themselves. As we've written in the few previous posts the route structure is fairly similar for all characters, the stories remain very light and shallow, and the game itself is quite short so there's not much room to develop anyway.

If a charage is what you're looking for though, you can expect to find a lot of interactions with the characters of your preference, without much (if at all) surprise in terms of backstory or personality, usually while the rest of the world and characters fade away to let the couple chosen take the spotlight and keep it from beginning to end. It's a very straightforward game, but the lack of spice or overdose of sugar does make it one of the most forgettable games of the studio (kinda like E-School Life).

I get what you mean but well, I meant in a way that stands out, at least to me. plus since I'm too picky with the characters I like in general; in case something catches my interest it doesn't really matter if it's charage, nakige, kamige or etc. otherwise thinking too deep into it is quite tiring for me unless I'm a fan I guess.

 

[kzel]

Did you end playing Hougako Cinderella after all? I'd hate to know that you passed on it because of me. I was just making a pointless argument over "It's better" vs "I prefer".

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I'm just finished with Kano's route in Madosoft's latest release ハミダシクリエイティブ. Already? Well, yes, I mostly rushed through it, and not out of excitement. Story beats aside, I have large issues with both the pacing and the writing, and that from the very start of the game, which pretty much prevented me from enjoying any of it. This writer (new guy for Madosoft) is terrible at setting up and keeping, or rather excels at wrecking up, a scene's mood. A scene getting serious, or romantic? Let's break it up with some bad jokes, it'll make it all better (hint: it only made me angry). And not just some light stuff, just stupid enough to actually completely ruin any efforts to make the heroines appear cute or the protagonist show his good side. Ecchi scenes are introduced completely out of the blue without much of a mood setup as well, completely unusable, even pure nukiges do better! As it stand this game was a pure waste of time for me, the story is passable but I don't like the "rich and famous" creator aspect each of the heroine has, and the game spends way too much time on the creators angle while largely rushing the romance part, all the way to very early ecchi (out of a relationship) and sex straight after confession (but not before one more bad joke in between to wreck any kind of mood). Maybe the other routes are better but I don't see myself wasting another hour on this. As someone who enjoyed previous Madosoft's earlier games this one is quite the disappointment, I hope they'll change writer for their next project because he is apparently incompatible with me.

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Also, it's been a while but I've finished 青春フラジャイル. I somewhat enjoyed the early parts of each route but alas it's clear that Purple Soft was more interested in developing its magical background and happenings than actually make a developed romance story. Heroines fall in just a couple chapter (when they're not already won at the start), and the game very quickly gets the ecchi scenes out of the way to concentrate on the main stuff : heroine traumas related to magic. I'm not against this kind of development and in fact found it added a very interesting spice in かけぬけ★青春スパーキング！'s last route, but only when it's the SPICE and not the MAIN DISH. The balance is very clearly shifted in favor of the magic mysteries, both in terms of effort and length, which made the latter parts of each route (and the lengthy flashback of the main girl) more annoying than enjoyable to go through. The ero is good though and the CV cast features some of my favorites, and the early parts of each route at least were enjoyable enough to read through, before the drama begins and ruins everything.

 

[|♚|KK|♚|]

It's all good of course :) I do enjoy hearing out different opinions, yours in general is so debt that it's actually pretty cool lol. and unfortunately I couldn't save time for it, but I've been following the project for a while so I'll play it eventually!

 

[pingtoryan]

It's the season of compilation boxes...nothing of import was missed to me...Atropos left a sour taste for Hulotte as a whole and the Yabai series is much drama, Cube's Yua+Actress troupe dual pack isn't too enticing either.

...and I thought August was done - they released Keyorina compilation, or so I've read. Don't wanna bother in any case, too heavy. Might be good news for users of modern OS tho, the original is borked from Win 7 onwards.

 

[kzel]

I'm actually looking forward to Keyorina's re-edition, I played the PSP version a bit (two routes : Fina normal and Natsuki) and while there was a fair share of drama I found it tolerable so far. Maybe it escalates in the later routes. Also looking forward to ensemble's Ojou-sama series package, I still haven't played the widely recognized as best in the series (Kigen Naname).

As far as standard releases this September, I played Cabbit's 鍵を隠したカゴのトリ, it was okay but the mystery turned out much simpler than what I would have expected. I recommend playing Yoru's route last as it pretty much spoiled the answer way ahead of time for me. I also tried Honey*Honey*Honey!, I don't like the concept of girls throwing themselves at a random protagonist dude but the common route was short enough to endure (about 30min?). Tsukasa's route lasted about 3 hours. It seems as each character has 3 bonus H scenes in the extra menus on top of the 3 in the main scenario, all of them featuring 3 separate CGs, plus a dozen event CG per character, that a lot of art. I actually don't mind the shortness of it, better than pad it down with bad jokes and/or needless drama. More on these later maybe.

 

[amaimono]

Thoughts on last month's titles:

Mama x Holic: Reading a Bare & Bunny title often feels like going to a party. Having said that, this is probably the first genuinely enjoyable of such party in years.

You might not believe it, but they went so far as to give each heroines a different motive(!), which really helped in making each route feel different. Unfortunately, as a result of sticking much too rigidly to these established motives, the two routes afforded to each of the main heroines plays out rather similarly. Rather begs the question of why didn't they just combine them into one. There are also other missed opportunities, but it seems to much to give out spoilers on this one.


Papa-katsu Aya-chan to Tanezuke Oji-san: Short, straight to the point, and backed with an amusing voice acting, and good —if rather sloppily finished— art. While these lower price titles are a doubtful sign for the company's future, I think Frill has really nailed them.


Hakuchuumu no Aojashin: Hello darkness, my old friend. HnA has a reading order and a habit of interrupting itself, both of which I found rather questionable. The reading order can be bypassed by making save points, while the interruptions can be ignored by pressing the skip button. There is only one route, containing one main story and three side stories which I'd call the teacher story, the Shakespeare story, and the photograph story.

I've only finished reading the Shakespeare and half of the teacher story, but this feels like a good place to stop, at least for the time being. To be clear, HnA has been a high quality read, but things are getting too much for my *ahem* pure & innocent mind.

Speaking of the side stories, the teacher and the Shakespeare story are actually very similar, with similar development and presumably similar ending. The Shakespeare story is in line with the real Shakespeare's favorite genre, while the teacher story is much more questionable morally. In fact, the latter's downright disgusting despite the enjoyment I got from such development in Frill's latest title. Such is the power of expectation and context.

Ultimately, HnA is a very worthy read, which should be considered whenever you feel despair about the eroge industry.

 

[kzel]

I've also played パパ活あやちゃんと種付けおじさん, but just like Frill's previous 神待ちサナちゃん I find that it failed to capture my interest as much as other Frill games that feature a female protagonist viewpoint. These games are mostly about corruption of characters, and reading them from the point of view of the lewd generic wealthy and bored middle aged man only goes so far. I find things escalate too quickly and veer towards abnormal play early, and end on a depressing note.

Spoiler: Papa Katsu Aya end

The girl gives up on her dream she start prostituting to finance in the first place, abandonning going to Europe to better her piano to instead be content to be the sex pet and bearer of the protagonist's child. Generic oji-san wins I guess? Kinda reminds me of the "good" end of 援女交際 ～亜梨紗の情事～ (in similar themes, much better imo), but at least the latter had an alternative.

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I had planned to start either 白昼夢の青写真 or さくらの雲＊スカアレットの恋 last week but most of my free time has been spent on a new F2P called Genshin Impact instead. The monetization is absolutely horrible (0.6% Gacha, really?) but the open world is fun to explore. Anyway, I'm not so sure about Hakuchuumu anymore if you found it questionable given your tastes in games. If you're "pure and innocent" then I wonder what that makes me... If it develops like a Shakespeare play then I imagine it goes the romantic tragedy route which is not my favorite genre. I'm not sure what you mean by your last sentence, it seems you didn't like the game much (skipping parts of it, stopping at midpoint without even going into the main route), maybe you could elaborate?

 

[amaimono]

I've also played パパ活あやちゃんと種付けおじさん, but just like Frill's previous 神待ちサナちゃん I find that it failed to capture my interest as much as other Frill games that feature a female protagonist viewpoint. These games are mostly about corruption of characters, and reading them from the point of view of the lewd generic wealthy and bored middle aged man only goes so far. I find things escalate too quickly and veer towards abnormal play early, and end on a depressing note.

Spoiler: Papa Katsu Aya end

The girl gives up on her dream she start prostituting to finance in the first place, abandonning going to Europe to better her piano to instead be content to be the sex pet and bearer of the protagonist's child. Generic oji-san wins I guess? Kinda reminds me of the "good" end of 援女交際 ～亜梨紗の情事～ (in similar themes, much better imo), but at least the latter had an alternative.

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I had planned to start either 白昼夢の青写真 or さくらの雲＊スカアレットの恋 last week but most of my free time has been spent on a new F2P called Genshin Impact instead. The monetization is absolutely horrible (0.6% Gacha, really?) but the open world is fun to explore. Anyway, I'm not so sure about Hakuchuumu anymore if you found it questionable given your tastes in games. If you're "pure and innocent" then I wonder what that makes me... If it develops like a Shakespeare play then I imagine it goes the romantic tragedy route which is not my favorite genre. I'm not sure what you mean by your last sentence, it seems you didn't like the game much (skipping parts of it, stopping at midpoint without even going into the main route), maybe you could elaborate?

Spoiler: Papakatsu

I'd say both win since they find love in the end. The middle-aged dude apparently stops seeing other girls and the girl gets a reliable partner, at least financially.

Online games? Nope, not going to throw myself into that botomless abyss again. Haha.

@HnA: Ah yeah, figured I'd forgot to mention some things. To get to the main route in HnA, you must first suffer through the wheel of samsara three side stories. It's only a speculation, but I think Hna is going to play out like Waremete (the title alone should give you an idea).

I quite like HnA, though it does get a bit heavy at times. Certainly not a title to skim through. There are stuff which you wouldn't like, but it's worth to suffer a bit given the quality of the writing.

 

[kzel]

Spoiler: Papakatsu Aya

From the oji-san's perspective it's certainly a win, but from the girl's? I don't really see Aya's situation as a win. She gave up on her dream (piano), family (strict parents surely aren't happy), school life (pregnant) and who knows what else, and all she got in return is financial security and love for as long as the protagonist doesn't get tired of her? Their relationship is based entirely on sex and pretty much nothing else, and given the oji-san preferences (young, innocent school girls) it's only a matter of time before he seeks satisfaction elsewhere, and even if he doesn't, he's 20 years older than her ensuring she spends her old age alone. Maybe Aya managed to change him, but I'm way too cynical to believe that.

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While you can play Genshin Impact co-op it's mostly a solo experience. The over-world exploration is kinda like Zelda Breath of the Wild, with lots of places to visit and numerous puzzles to solve (usually very easy but rarely a bit more involved), and the occasional temple to clear and boss to defeat. It's pretty fun but now that I'm Adventure level 25 the game is showing its grindy aspect more and more (with associated monetization to speed things up), so my motivation is slowly dwindling and I'll probably be back to VNs shortly. Still got a bit left of the map to explore though.

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@HnA : I'll keep it around for now but if it's not a game to start lightly then it'll probably have to wait a bit.

 

[amaimono]

Spoiler: Papakatsu Aya

From the oji-san's perspective it's certainly a win, but from the girl's? I don't really see Aya's situation as a win. She gave up on her dream (piano), family (strict parents surely aren't happy), school life (pregnant) and who knows what else, and all she got in return is financial security and love for as long as the protagonist doesn't get tired of her? Their relationship is based entirely on sex and pretty much nothing else, and given the oji-san preferences (young, innocent school girls) it's only a matter of time before he seeks satisfaction elsewhere, and even if he doesn't, he's 20 years older than her ensuring she spends her old age alone. Maybe Aya managed to change him, but I'm way too cynical to believe that.

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While you can play Genshin Impact co-op it's mostly a solo experience. The over-world exploration is kinda like Zelda Breath of the Wild, with lots of places to visit and numerous puzzles to solve (usually very easy but rarely a bit more involved), and the occasional temple to clear and boss to defeat. It's pretty fun but now that I'm Adventure level 25 the game is showing its grindy aspect more and more (with associated monetization to speed things up), so my motivation is slowly dwindling and I'll probably be back to VNs shortly. Still got a bit left of the map to explore though.

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@HnA : I'll keep it around for now but if it's not a game to start lightly then it'll probably have to wait a bit.

Spoiler: Papakatsu

It's highly a gamble whether she could make it as a pianist. Furthermore, she's only got a few months of school left, so it's very possible for her to get away with her pregnancy. The family, though, is a problem since they could get the police involved. I won't bet on the new couple in this case.

As for the future, the girl could probably afford to hire a caretaker later if she keeps a saving. She's currently save enough to live and study in Europe after all.

Well, I suppose it's all down to what we want to think will happen. I wish the new couple all the luck.

My fear about online games is the addiction. Time-limited events are the worst.

Alright, I'm going to read MamaSis next.

 

[kzel]

Now that I'm free from the clutches of Genshin Impact (nothing to do but mindlessly grind for more power... except the world also grows stronger and faster than you do), I've had some time to come back to VNs but I'm sad to say I failed to find something that caught my interest. Quick comments below:

Honey*Honey*Honey! : While Tsukasa's route was alright I find both Arika's and Miyuki's rush too quickly and let the sex begin too soon for my tastes (in one case before the protagonist has even made up his mind). Arika's route was alright but I wasn't really fond of the developments, especially the way the protagonist "grows" and the whole inquisition bullshit. I like Miyuki's obsessive personality twist, I haven't played her route fully yet but I would have appreciated a little more before the first H begins.

さくらの雲＊スカアレットの恋 : I've dropped this one after finishing the first chapter, because it's soporifically boring. Amazing Grace, the studio and writer's previous game, also had serious pacing issues (mostly in the middle) but at least there was the Christmas disaster hook introduced early and reminded often. Here the hook is very weak : the protagonist isn't in any sense of urgency and is just enjoying his new life as a detective in past Japan. I imagine that, just like the last game, there will be layers of deceptions and mystery introduced at some point. I suppose I could skip to the interesting part but that would kill my enjoyment anyway, and I prefer to leave it at that. Also, quick look at a walkthrough reveals that there's barely any investigation and that it's all but a one-way-road which I find is such a waste in the VN format. Even if I end up playing all routes, having an influence on the story or the order it is presented is a big part of why I enjoy the medium, and throwing that away usually means that all is left is a story, albeit heavily stretched and diluted compared to other linear formats - books, movies and whatnot - gotta justify that $100 price-tag I guess.

白昼夢の青写真 : I read a bit about it after amaimono's warning and I definitely see stuff I won't like including but not limited to:

Spoiler: Hakuchuumu Stuff

Rape, Slavery, Cheating, Abuse, Adultery, Violence, Suicide, Neglect, no good ending, heavy shift to poor SF in the true route

I'm just going to give this one a pass without even trying. I don't mind some darker themes in my games but this is a bit much, especially as it seems this will be yet another prime example of why I dislike Japanese productions' (in everything from VN to Manga, Anime and Games) tendency to just pile on different genres and themes in a single piece in an attempt to appeal to the broadest audience.

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Nothing much to look forward to for the end of this month either. There's Niijima Yuu's アインシュタインより愛を込めて, I've liked some of his games (Koikake and what he wrote in Summer Pockets) but I'm not sure he's that suited to write a SF story. The protagonist is yet another socially inept dude, reminds me of Hatsuyuki Sakura and how I absolutely hated the MC in this game (made me drop it). That's strike one. He's also a genius, and I generally can't stand stories about teenage geniuses either (see Sakura no Uta), I prefer when characters engage in activities fitting their age. That's strike two. I'll glance at a walkthrough before I play this and if it's a one-way-road again then that'll strike three and I probably won't even try it. Even though there's literally nothing else apart from a couple nukiges.

 

[amaimono]

@HnA: Hahaha. Yeah, a lot dark stuff in there. Excellent writing though. Rather than an experiment to fit in as many genre as possible, I'd say that HnA is a collection of the writer's failed attempts in writing a full-length story :P

@Upcoming titles: Little cheers until the end of the year, so this seems to be the best time to read stuff I've put on hold for so long.

@Suiren & Shion: If the trial is an accurate reflection of the whole thing, then it's best to keep a low or even zero expectations on the story.

 

[kzel]

@Suiren & Shion: If the trial is an accurate reflection of the whole thing, then it's best to keep a low or even zero expectations on the story.

I had very little expectations given the previous collaborative work of Iizuki and this writer, but is it that bad already? I predicted an indecisive protagonist bouncing back and forth between two lovesick childhood friends who can't think of anything but pile on the H-appeal to a donkan boy who's all too eager to go for a shallow, purely physical relationship sex-filled summer. Now where have I seen this before...? Oh yeah, Sis*Camp and ムチムチだからムクムクした. Both nukiges and it's not really anything new but I really can't get into it this time around, stopped them both before the first choice shows up : if I'm skipping H-scenes in a nukige then what am I even here for anyway.

I'll be giving Einstein a try at some point (maybe) since apparently it's not an enforced playing order so it dodges the batter out. Any non-spoilery comment on it are welcome to spark a little bit more motivation, especially how the MC fares.

---

EDIT : Quick comments on the games I have played recently while I'm at it:

Lovely Quest (completed) : While Aino's route was a terrible place to finish as it's easily the worst route, I ended the game with a very positive overall impression. I especially like Hami's whole route developments and most particularly the confession and early couple days. So much so that I've read through it easily a dozen times and it hasn't failed to cheer me up a little every time. I also like Iroha and Ayaka's confessions, very cute. This game easily makes it to the top of my personal Hooksoft ranking along with Melty Moment.

Strawberry Nauts (Yao, Chiyori) : Coming from Lovely Quest, this game is such a departure from everything that I liked. Gone is the likeable average protagonist, in is the super talented but utterly donkan super-popular boy. Yao's route also showcases some really angering dumbassery on his part, such as ignoring the girl's opinion (stated clearly and multiple times) and succumbing to pressure from complete strangers, saying horrible things while hiding behind a shield of good intentions ("I'm doing it for your sake!"). Get out of here, you don't deserve one inch of Yao's love. Chiyori's route is so short it can barely be called a sub-heroine route, and the protagonist doesn't even feel like he agreed to get onto it, much less put any effort towards it. Disappointing all around.

Honey＊Honey＊Honey！ (completed, some bonus H untouched) : As expected from the beginning of Miyuki's route, it quickly turns to H and never really strays from it. The one little bit of a problem (teacher-student relationship) is solved very quickly in a very questionable way, did the school board never hear about age of consent..? Good for what it was I guess.

お嬢様はご機嫌ナナメ (mostly done, finished in order Shiaya, Otoha, Nanami) : A very intriguing game, and one of the rare cases in which I actually enjoyed the common route more than the heroine routes. Romance isn't really this game's strong point, in fact let's be blunt: the romance sucks, but there's a load of political intrigue and economic discussions that somehow maintained my interest. Nanami's route is actually the only one to keep on that trend and not branch out into something else and thus was easily the most interesting of the three I played. I will say that the final resolution isn't really living up to the beginning of the game but there are still some interesting things happening, especially if you're have a passing interest in the stock market or finance (but not actual knowledge or you may cringe). Shiaya's route was... why..? why did it have to be like this? I can be quite accommodating but just nope, too much for me. Also teaching grown-up kids to beat up on smaller kids to build confidence, yeah. Otoha's route is fine but everything is just so easy that it's a mystery why idols have a hard time piercing through, just use the powers of the net and go international! I liked how she just ignores the protagonist excuses and moping and solves things through sheer willpower, but as it piles on it becomes less and less believable. Final note: don't read the Nanami after until after completing all the routes in the main game or you will, like me, be heavily spoiled for the other routes. Thanks for that.

 

[amaimono]

I had very little expectations given the previous collaborative work of Iizuki and this writer, but is it that bad already? I predicted an indecisive protagonist bouncing back and forth between two lovesick childhood friends who can't think of anything but pile on the H-appeal to a donkan boy who's all too eager to go for a shallow, purely physical relationship sex-filled summer. Now where have I seen this before...? Oh yeah, Sis*Camp and ムチムチだからムクムクした. Both nukiges and it's not really anything new but I really can't get into it this time around, stopped them both before the first choice shows up : if I'm skipping H-scenes in a nukige then what am I even here for anyway.

It has no adults. Screwy characters are fine if the jokes are funny. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case here.

 

[kzel]

A bit late, but here's some info about Hooksoft upcoming project: Yubisaki Connection, available here. I think it's the first time Hooksoft ventured into the adult-life format? If they can pull off a Making*Lovers that can be a nice change of pace for the studio, and they might with some help from a SMEE scenarist. I'm not sure if the concept of experiencing the thrill and anxiety of making girls fall will translate into something actually involved or just another gimmick, but it looks like much of it will be via smartphone and not face-to-face, not really my style but why not. Also pubic hair option, yay...

Apart from that, I haven't played much VN at all lately, I tried a little bit of まいてつ Last Run!! but it's really hard to get back into the stories for the after parts as I remember so little about them in the first place (the original was four years ago...). A little synopsis or recap would have been appreciated. Also the writing style is really particular, especially the way the protagonist speaks, I didn't remember that about the game but it does make it rather difficult to speed-read earlier chapters to see what's going on.

 

[amaimono]

A bit late, but here's some info about Hooksoft upcoming project: Yubisaki Connection, available here. I think it's the first time Hooksoft ventured into the adult-life format? If they can pull off a Making*Lovers that can be a nice change of pace for the studio, and they might with some help from a SMEE scenarist. I'm not sure if the concept of experiencing the thrill and anxiety of making girls fall will translate into something actually involved or just another gimmick, but it looks like much of it will be via smartphone and not face-to-face, not really my style but why not. Also pubic hair option, yay...

Looks really good, art-wise. I presume the SNS aspect is just like Tinder. Arrange a date with the girls then physically meet up with them. There was such an eroge from INTERHEART some time ago, although the writing for that one was next level horrible.

 

[pingtoryan]

The process of turning into SMEE...will SMEE eventually turns into what Hooksoft used to be one day?

...something to look forward to...even though my call is for it to be more gimmick. And bring on the pubic hair, you don't see it often in this sorta media, it's supposedly to make sex feel more "real"...

 

[amaimono]

The process of turning into SMEE...will SMEE eventually turns into what Hooksoft used to be one day?

...something to look forward to...even though my call is for it to be more gimmick. And bring on the pubic hair, you don't see it often in this sorta media, it's supposedly to make sex feel more "real"...

What does turning into SMEE mean? Skin-deep relationships? Endless torrent of jokes? Endless quick savings & loadings?

As for the pubic hair issue, well, it's better than lousily drawn genitals or patches of mosaics so no complaints here.

 

[pingtoryan]

What does turning into SMEE mean? Skin-deep relationships? Endless torrent of jokes? Endless quick savings & loadings?

Yeah. IMO the last time Hooksoft games feels like...HOOK(soft), was Amenity's Life. I wasn't expecting manzai comedy routines for ISuki, and Houkago Cinderalla be like Kanojo Step in big town. IxSheTell is forgettable and E-School Life goes into world of two mode SMEE-style...IIRC, which is also the case with Houkago Cinderalla.

Prior, Hooksoft games don't normally waste characters. They are usually given some roles throughout the story across every route and there is actualy common route story, bonding you with the cast as a whole...something like that.

 

[kzel]

Well I happen to like (old) SMEE's style, with its large amount of jokes (hopefully not too focused on shimoneta), its good amount of non-trivial (not just choose a character) choices that keep you invested and not completely passive (side note : nothing is gained from aiming for perfection and save/load at every turn, in fact it misses out stuff by progressing too quickly), and I don't think their relationships are any shallower than other studios, Hooksoft first and foremost. So I welcome Hooksoft's transition into something more akin to (again, old) SMEE, since current SMEE is heading off in a different direction, even more so with the permanent departure of Hayase Yuu (or did he? seems he's credited for the Harem Kingdom fandisk still).

Anyway, I don't feel games should strive to give each and every character a place in every route, I'm fine with a character getting a focus on their own route and not being too present in the others. Having other potential love interests show up often but 'forget' their all-too-obvious feelings the moment the protagonist's mind is made up on someone isn't that amazing either and between the two, I'll take the former any day.

As for the pubic hair option, just like Hooksoft's clothed/naked sex before I really don't care either way, especially given the censoring. It's not going to change much for me but I suppose it's an argument for some kind of audience.

 

[amaimono]

...I don't think their relationships are any shallower than other studios....

I suppose it was unfair to blanket check SMEE's titles as featuring shallow relationships. Still, Harem Kingdom was really awful in regard to chemistries between the protagonist and the heroines (political marriage, forced friend to lover progress, etc.). The fan discs are supposedly there to fix that, but I'm not so sure. As for SMEE's jokes, I dunno, they're just too random? Otaku-ish?

 

[kzel]

I haven't played Harem Kingdom (being, you know, harem and all), but if I remember the pitch right : one of the selling points was being able to have sex with the heroines right from the start, so I would guess that implies some rushed relationship progress, especially for new acquaintances. Still, I'd say this lack of chemisty has been a problem that has been showing up in recent SMEE productions, Sugar*Style on top. The jokes may be hit-and-miss, and as the years passed the more focused on shimoneta they got, but the magic of SMEE games for me was the way they balanced the joking moments with the emotional ones. The protagonist is always a bit of a moron, but he redeems himself immensely when he has these rare but meaningful moments of brilliance (Fureraba especially Rina's route, Lover Able's Kaho, Pure x Connect's Moemi, Kanojo * Step's Kuon and of course Tomiko, and in Making * Lovers across the board). That's what was crucially missing from Sugar*Style for me, and I would have forgiven its other issues if it had at least that. I always figured it was thanks to Hayase Yuu's influence, but if he's in the main writing staff of Harem Kingdom and it's still bad in that regard then maybe he lost his touch, or maybe that's not what the studio wants to do anymore and may be one of many reasons why he wanted to leave and become independent.